the USA penny
(for Lincoln’s birthday on the twelfth of February)

it is our first coin

it is ubiquitous

it is
of course
an honor

that goes both ways
in that
we might be honored to
carry him
say
in a purse or
in a pocket near the hip
or thigh

and should we
change
well
our change
when we’ve decided that we
don’t have to say
ninety-nine to avoid
calling
the next dollar up

maybe
the penny will go out
to the darkness
on the pages
inside
of
numismatists

we’ll carve his imagine onto
a greater coin or
print him
on a bill of altitudinous
value

or find
some way
still everywhere to have him
near
remembering 
by what credit he may
own
(and
does)
the nation that
should be
ours
all
of ours
all

and so maybe toward
a virtuous
such an integral
legacy
as well

c l couch


photo by Acton Crawford on Unsplash 
penny floor tiling at the Maven Hotel
Denver, Colorado (USA)

yesterday I posted a poem for Presidents Day (USA), which for some reason I thought was yesterday and not a week from then; well, if you’re looking for something for the day, now you’ll be ready—and sorry